Master castler David Frank has turned out this beautiful diorama. I absolutely love the scale of it; so often LEGO creations are—by necessity, no doubt—scaled down, so that houses are shed-sized and castles are the size of houses. Not so here, with this lovely dwelling sprawling across a delightful garden scene. David built the model to celebrate the publishing of his wife, Clair’s, fantasy novel, “To Whatever End (Echoes of Imara Book 1)
Reinforcing my opinion that Mixel eyeballs were 2014’s most exciting new LEGO element, Nick Sweetman has started chronicling the life of Nigel, a sentient potted plant with a taste for junk food (and possibly human flesh).
Unfortunately Nigel has just rushed into marriage …which I have no doubt will turn out to be a total disaster! We look forward to seeing his ongoing adventures. And finding out how adorable and numerous his offspring will be.
Say hello to Kamen Rider, from the successful 70’s Japanese TV franchise of the same name. This build is the work of Japanese pop-culture aficionado Moko. If it looks strangely familiar, that may be because Kamen Rider was the inspiration for a certain 90’s American knock-off called the Power Rangers (which, confusingly, spawned a spin-off called Masked Rider that aped the original show).
I love this piece not only because of its perfectly proportioned stud-less design, but because it’s just the latest in a long line of explorations of the masked rider by this builder, going back as far as 2006. Though with this latest interpretation, I think it’s fair to say he’s finally nailed it!
As a small child back in Japan, I used Go pieces to create serpentine roads across tatami floors for my little Tomica cars, but my family left Japan before I ever played a proper game. I still get nostalgic whenever I see Go games. Joe Miller built this fully functional 9×9 Go set completely from LEGO, using some rather complicated techniques to place the black lines on the board.
The lines themselves are the tops of 1×2 half-panels wedged into full (3-brick high) panels, combined with some serious sideways and upside-down (SNOT) construction.
This time of year in the northern hemisphere can be a bit depressing, especially as far north as it is here at TBB headquarters (poor Lemur…). Peteris Strogis sheds some light on this dark time with this futuristic, solar-powered vehicle. Every greeble seems to have a purpose, and the rear tires built from track treads are inspired.
Daniel Church takes a slick approach to future sea travel with this cool little skiff. My favorite part is how the wedge plates angling with one another make a striking visual motif that really brings this model together. The addition of the dock and particularly the style of the lamppost lend a bit of context to the craft and the world it inhabits.
We’ve already seen the internal anatomy of a mini-fig, so I guess the innards of a brick-built figure was the next logical step. This version by Flickr member umamen comes complete with articulated joints, flex-tube veins and arteries, and helpfully color-coded organs. Can you name them all?
David Hensel (Legonardo Davidy) creates a detailed windmill with spinning blades and rotating tower. I really like the blend of sand green and olive green bricks for the base as well as its spherical shape.
Barton Thinks is recreating iconic Middle Earth locations in micro-scale. I really like the use of black level handles to detail the sides of Orthanc. The little bits of landscaping really bring it to life as well. Luckily this is before the Orcs cut down all the trees!
I have a personal tradition of watching a depressing movie on Christmas Eve; I find it has a nice effect of tempering the holiday festivities with some sobering reality.
Apparently Gabe Umland is similarly inclined. This depiction of London during the Blitz has some gorgeously detailed rubble, with just the right touch of Christmas spirit.
The Volvo Ocean Race is a yacht race around the entire world. It is held every three years and generally takes approximately 9 months to complete. Each boat has a crew of 9, who race 24 hours a day for up to 20 days at a time, living off of freeze-dried food and raw courage. It isn’t a race for the weak or faint of heart.
This incredible LEGO model was built by Johan Sahlstrom, who works for Volvo, and Anders Christensen, who works for LEGO. After deciding to build a model of the Volvo Ocean Race boats, they chose Team SCA, the first all-female crew in over 10 years, because “Team SCA is definitely the coolest looking”, according to Sahlstrom.
The SCA boat is 2 1/2 meters long and 3 1/2 meters tall, using over 100,000 pieces. It includes fully functional halyards, winches, grinding pedestals and a canting keel. It is completely to scale, took over 1200 man-hours to build and uses no glue. Creating it was a quite the feat in and of itself!
Jon & Catherine Stead have created this lovely Neo-Classic Space “Rocket Launch and Recovery Vehicle”. It really reminds of an updated Mobile Rocket Transport, which was one of my favorite sets from my childhood.
The mix of new and vintage parts really bring this concept home but I think it is the use of all the transparent bits that makes this standout. It’s a rather full of “bling” and I’m liking it.
